As we enter what all animal shelters refer to as "kitten season", please remember the following:

• From the Humane Society of the United States: one female cat and its offspring can theoretically result in 420, 000 kittens in 7 years (assuming all live and procreate normally and none are neutered/spayed).   Even if you cut those statistics by 99%, you're looking at 4,200 cats being born (average 600/year), many of which will never end up in homes. Owners of female cats that justify allowing a pregnancy usually plan on getting the kittens into homes but usually do not require that the new owner have them neutered/spayed. Besides placing kittens into homes that might otherwise have adopted from a shelter or rescue organization, these owners often have not thought about the numbers of cats they may now be responsible for bringing into the world over several years.
• Owners of male cats roaming outdoors share the responsibility, of course, since females don't become pregnant without a whole tom around!
• In our community, there is really no good reason to own unaltered cats (or dogs, for that matter) with the exception of responsible, knowledgeable purebred breeders that carefully control the breeding of their animals.  With a low cost neuter/spay clinic in town as well as a free neuter-spay program for low income families through the Humane Society of Northeast Texas, pet sterilization should not be an issue.  
• Pet sterilization DOES continue to be an issue in our community, however.  What can you do?  If you have a friend, neighbor, or acquaintance that has unaltered pets and doesn't seem to be interested in getting them neutered or spayed, offer to transport their pet to the vet or low cost clinic for sterilization. If you are financially able, you might even offer to pay for the sterilization yourself (a scholarship of sorts).  If the owner is simply of the mindset that a male animal should remain whole (and we have a lot of these folks in East Texas), you may not be able to change that attitude. But use any opportunities available to talk to the children of these pet owners while they are still open to listening!

Pet overpopulation is not an issue solved by one entity or one segment of the population, but we as individuals can have a positive impact by seizing every opportunity possible to affect the animals belonging to our circle of family, friends, and colleagues.  Let's all work to minimize kitten season this year!